The City of Blood
by Aeryn Herondale
Summary: Two kingdoms; two kings to ascend the throne. The city of blood takes no survivors. When the city takes lives and Nihon's royal family becomes sucked into the fray, the second king must take his rightful place and save his people. Yaoi, KuroFai, YuixOC
1. Chapter 1

So this came without warning...but I like the story, so here it is xD I'm still writing Pop 101 and all that...this is the reason for the delay (a good one, I think xD)

This story is very near and dear to my heart because it is the KuroFai adaptation of an original that I wrote a long time ago and never finished. Hopefully this story will see an end.

****Warning: This is Rated M for a reason. Don't like yaoi? Boy/Boy? Then get out of Dodge. :3 **

Chapter Quote comes from _City of Glass_ by Cassandra Clare.

Please leave a review! I love to read them; they tell me what I need to do to make the story better and more enjoyable for you! :3

With that, I hope you have a good week! ^.^

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><p><strong>Part the First: Our Last Dance<strong>

**xxxxxxx**

_"I belong to you. You could do anything you wanted with me and I would let you. You could ask anything of me and I'd break myself trying to make you happy. My heart tells me this is the best and greatest feeling I have ever had. But my mind knows the difference between wanting what you can't have and wanting what you shouldn't want. And I shouldn't want you.  
>All night I've watched you sleeping, watched the moonlight come and go, casting its shadows across your face in black and white. I've never seen anything more beautiful. I think of the life we could have had if things were different, a life where this night is not a singular event, separate from everything else that's real, but every night."<em>

-Cassandra Clare, _City of Glass_

**xxxxxxx**

_"There are only two things that will truly set my father off: a man falling in love with another man and comitting suicide."_

Once upon a time never had appealed to me. I mean, there was always that prince guy that came and saved everyone in the end...a hero that magically appeared when he was needed the most. That was great and all; if it made a girl sleep better at night or something, then I didn't want to burst her bubble or hurt her. I wouldn't tell her the truth, but go on pretending that there were heroes.; that I was that hero that was coming on a shining white horse, looking like a damn fool with a stupid looking cape or something.

Yeah, right; anyone who knew me knew that I wasn't a cape kind of guy. I wasn't anyone's hero, either. I was a prince: a person who would occupy the throne when my time came. I would become the face of the country, the person that everyone looked up to. Why anyone would ever look up to a royal person, I didn't understand, but it wasn't like it was something that I could change. There was no point in trying to change anything. Life would just continue on as it had the days before, leaving you lost and afraid of every moment because you were too stuck in the past, trying to clutch on to pieces of something that was completely gone.

I'd had this toy once; I was so damn in love with the thing that it never left my side. I think that it was some kind of toy horse or something...I loved pretending it was alive, making it sail across the room as it rode off with me on grand adventures. I would save our country from destruction, marry the princess, and end up being loved by everyone. It really sucked when I grew up and found out that this wasn't what a prince was at all – most of the time, it was paperwork and strategizing. A price didn't really set foot on the battlefield; he sat in a damn classroom all the time, trying to learn math, physics, geometry, and whatever else the royal tutors wanted you to learn.

I'd never made the mistake of asking about when I was going to battle with some great enemy, like all the characters in the books that my mom had read to me when I was little. That wasn't real life. Reality was just a huge disappointment that I was trying to survive, just like everyone else. In the end, I would die – there would be no great adventure, no storybook ending.

That just depressed the hell out of me.

There was only one person that ever made me feel like I had a chance at attaining happiness was my older brother, Kaisei. Now, he wasn't a perfect brother at all – in fact, he was a dick for the first few years of my life. Cold, grumpy, angry, and always pitching some kind of fit about his princely duties as first in line to the throne, my brother had been the person I'd always avoided. I didn't want to mess with a guy thoroughly trained in the art of swordsmanship...who also apparently hated my guts.

But one day, everything changed. I would always remember it – I was eleven, and he had to go to this stupid party thing for the prince of our neighboring country, Celes, to show that he didn't hate everyone. I remembered how he'd complained and begged not to go, and the shouting match that he'd gotten into with our dad...how he'd almost been shoved into the carriage and dragged off the two hour ride to the border. I had expected that he was going to raise hell when he got home, taking it out on anything that was in his way, so I had hid in my room that night.

The yelling I was waiting for never came. I just thought that Kaisei was staying the night without telling anyone as a way of sticking it to our dad, but when I entered the dining hall the next morning, there my big brother was, bearing a grin that seemed to outshine the entire world.

_'I still wish I could smile like that.' _I thought, sighing as I tried to pay attention to what my father was saying. Often, my thoughts wandered back to those days...to the days when everything was okay, when Kaisei had been-

"Kurogane! Are you listening to me?"

I nodded on impulse, realizing too late that my father was actually serious. "Of course." I muttered, trying to keep the sarcasam from my voice. "I just didn't catch that last part."

The king growled at me, looking like he was about to toss me out the nearest window. I didn't care; I wanted him to do it. That would be better than listening to him drone on about more things that I didn't give two shits about.

"Today is your seventeenth birthday, Kurogane! You have come of marriageable age, and you have made no preparations for any one bride. How am I supposed to find you a proper queen if you haven't reached out to any of the young ladies in the realm?"

I wanted to shove that stupid monacle up my dad's ass, but I decided to keep quiet. "I've made friends like you said. I just don't like any of them...that way." I muttered, looking down at my feet. I didn't have many companions; most of my time was spent alone, staring out windows or practicing swordplay. I wasn't the friendliest guy ever, but I thought that I was doing okay. My best friends weren't of noble blood...well, most of them. There was one exception, a girl that I kept praying dad wouldn't bring up-

"What about Tomoyo-chan? She's a nice girl, a princess in fact! Not to mention that our countries are trading partners – it couldn't be a better arrangement!" My father threw his hands up in the air, a product of his exasparation. "You don't have to marry for love, Kurogane! For goodness sake, if you don't feel anything for her, then struggle through it for the good of your country!"

"My country would be better off with me as a single ruler." I looked my father straight in the eyes, seeing how he visibly flinched at that comment. "That's what you said to Kai, wasn't it?"

There was a long pause in which my father took a deep breath, sighing. "Kurogane...,"

"Don't." Running a hand through my short hair, I expelled a short breath, trying to quell my anger. "Why can't I be by myself if he had to?"

"_You are not your brother!_"

The words thundered through the nearly-empty throne room, making me wince. Dad _never _lost control like that – he always said that a king had to keep it together, a king had to be strong, he had to never show that he wasn't okay. That just proved what I had suspected all along; he wasn't as unaffected by Kai's death as he tried to seem. I couldn't find it within myself to take pity on him. It was his fault, after all.

Kaisei was dead because my father was an asshole. I would never forget or forgive that.

There was a beat of silence before either of us spoke again. My father cleared his throat and ran a hand through his graying hair, looking at me. "You're not Kaisei. You are expected to marry. That is the end of the story." His words were like a steel wall slamming down on my future. I opened my mouth to complain, but my father turned his head; I had been dismissed, and trying to argue the point further was pointless.

I growled low in my throat, storming from the room. Servants in the hall stared as I clenched my fists and grit my teeth, wanting to systematically destroy everything before me. I saw shared glances as I rushed past; they all knew what had gone down. It wasn't hard to figure out. I was always pissed off after I'd gone to meet my dad. He just had that effect on me. We would never get along, nor would we be able to understand one another. I was just endlessly trying to do as he commanded before I took the throne...before I became the king of Nihon and changed everything.

My father ruled his empire with an iron grip. He suppressed trade, suppressed religion, suppressed the economy...just bound the people to him in general. There was nothing that could go on here without the king's seal of approval, including my activities and schedule. It was really freaking annoying; I mean, come on. He didn't _have _to look into the marriage affairs of his subjects, now did he? And it was a widely known fact that he was much harder to get a marriage license from if the partners were both male or female. Same for a birth registration; some babies of same-sex couples were usually denied citizenship. There were a whole array of things that my father did unfairly, and most of it stemmed back to what had happened on the fateful night my brother had died.

There were only two things that would really piss my dad off: loving somebody that was your same gender and committing suicide. Unfortunately, my brother Kaisei had done both of these things; even in death, my father only regarded him as a bastard who had directly gone against his will and had betrayed the crown. He hadn't even been given a proper funeral! Kaisei's grave was on the outskirts of the city, in a little shrine that had only been put there to shut me up when I'd realized just how unfairly my brother had been treated.

No one remembered Kaisei anymore; no one but me. He was just as dad wished him to be: forgotten, alone, and hated by those who did remember him. My father didn't want anyone to look at him with kindness...which was why he was so pissed at me all the time. And just to piss him off more, I would guilt trip him.

_'Today was the first day that he actually lost it in front of me.'_ I thought, my angry pace beginning to slow. I hadn't really thought about where I was going; without realizing it, I was heading for the training room, where all of the weapons were. My dad hadn't thought that I would spend so much time here, because Kaisei hadn't; they both had valued learning over fighting. I, however, was different. A good sword could speak as well as words in my opinion, and a king needed to know how to use it. I wasn't going to lead any army into battle without doing some real combat myself – that was for damn sure.

If Kaisei had known how to handle a sword, he could have just killed our damn father and claimed his throne instead of letting his despair consume him. He probably still would have been alive today, actually, though dad always said that his death was because of his weakness, not because of what had happened between them. The king never did know how to admit he was wrong. If he had, I would have been able to forgive him.

As usual, Rikuou was standing in the middle of the ring, a throwing knife perfectly balanced between his index and middle fingers. I watched as he eyed the target; with a seemingly delicate flick of his wrist, the blade had sunk deep into the target's heart, centered right on the bullseye. There was nothing less to be expected from the general of the Nihon Military; he was amazing at anything he attempted to do.

"Rikuou." I called, a greeting between the two of us. The male's dark eyes flashed to my own red irises, a nod of his head signaling that he wasn't busy.

"Kurogane-sama. I didn't think that I was going to see you here today." The male bowed, ignoring my sigh of annoyance and constant requests to just call me Kurogane simultaneously. "Your father summoned you, didn't he? Are you already done with whatever it was that he wanted?"

"I guess. He just called me in there to chew me out about not having a wife yet." I strolled down to the floor, taking a beautifully crafted practice katana. "I've got a year to pick a girl before he picks one for me, is what he says."

Rikuou had already taken his knife out of the target, and had picked up another one on the way over to me. Our rhythm was easy, practiced; he knew exactly what I needed right now, and that was a distraction from the situation at hand. He knew that I just wanted to beat the shit out of something...or have the shit beaten out of me, which was probably going to happen given the scattered quality of my thoughts.

"Are you going to try and find someone?" The noirette asked, beginning to circle me with a trained eye. His hair was medium length; long enough to get in his eyes. I always wondered how the hell he could see where he was going, never mind the fact that he could fight better than ten men on a bad day, with bangs always flying in his face like that. But somehow he managed...though I suspected that he only kept them like that because a certain palace healer liked it...

Rikuou lunged, and I met it perfectly, the clash of metal on metal reverberating through my chest. "Well...I don't know." My voice was strained as I sliced my sword to the left, ducking down and sweeping my foot out to try and knock him down. Of course, it didn't work. "I was thinking that I would just ask Tomoyo, since she's my friend and all...I don't see any suitors that she likes asking her, but-,"

"That wouldn't be a wise choice." Rikuou recovered from guarding against me, twisting around like a snake as he lunged for me again. I barely darted to the side in time; he could tell that I was distracted, and he was using it against me. _'Bastard.' _I thought, gritting my teeth and trying to think about what to do. He always had these stupid conversations when we fought; it was supposed to teach me how to multitask or something, but I never learned. I wanted to concentrate fully on the battle...not my many problems at hand.

"And why...is...that?" I managed, slashing my sword. It clanged against the throwing knives loudly, the force of my attack not enough to get them out of Rikuou's hands. The idiot was damn good at what he did – I never stood a chance. I hadn't beaten him in all the time that I had known him...yet, like an idiot, I kept coming back for more. I didn't know why I was like that...the moron who still had some kind of hope when everything else was gone. I was the fool that always believed that something could still happen, even when it was impossible.

Even to this day, I still believed that Kaisei would walk through the front gates, asking where I was and why the hell I hadn't managed to become the king yet.

Before I knew what was happening, a rough hand pushed against my chest. The Katana went flying out of my hands; I hit the floor, hard, wincing as the back of my head cracked against hard marble. When I opened my eyes, the cold tip of the hunting knife was against my throat, glinting wickedly in the light from the lamps scattered around the training arena floor.

"You don't want that." Rikuou said softly, watching my eyes from his place over me. "You haven't fought so distractedly in weeks; obviously you don't think that's the right choice, or you wouldn't be thinking about it so much."

The noirette drew back, sighing as he tossed the knives carelessly into their bin. I sat up a little, moaning at the pain in my back, neck, and head. I wanted to just ignore what he had said...to pretend that he wasn't right, that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about...but I knew Rikuou. I couldn't fool myself; his word was gold to me. He was second only to my deceased brother, smarter than I would ever be and twice as humble. He was a man that I strived to be like. If he said that my gut feeling was right, then I had no reason to think he was wrong.

"I would ask Tomoyo-sama if she would like your hand in marriage...but there's no way that she's going to agree to that. Her father would have to demand that she did it before she would even consider thinking about something like that. Even then, she probably would not-,"

"I know." I muttered, slowly getting up from my place on the floor. "I know it's a stupid idea. But I would rather spend the rest of my life with my friend than some girl I'm just going to breed with." I sighed, rubbing the tender part of the back of my neck. "Not everyone is as lucky as Kazahaya and you are."

At the mention of his partner, Rikuou's face softened. He was always like that whenever the kid was in the room, or even brought up in conversation. He was totally in love with that guy, and everyone could tell. Kazahaya was the only one that made him soft, vulnerable. He was Rikuou's only weakness...though I had no idea what the hell the general saw in that guy. Kazahaya was a loud, whiny brat that would always complain when he had to work. He only knew what the hell he was doing, only had the freaking job because Rikuou helped him along. I didn't think that the idiot had ever done anything for himself.

A warm hand came down on my shoulder, and I found Rikuou looking at me, his eyes filled with sympathy. "It takes time. We didn't come together overnight; neither will you."

I knew that he was right, that if I wanted to find love I was going to need time...but to be honest, I didn't have faith in love anymore. I'd lost it when Kaisei had sacrificed his life for the love that had defined it. Love only lead to destruction in my opinion. Besides, my father would never approve of anyone I picked. Certainly not if it turned out to be another guy.

"I'll try." I muttered, shaking my head. "You think Kazahaya would actually look at this, or is he just going to tell me to be a man?"

Rikuou laughed softly, shrugging his shoulders. "You never know. Maybe I should go put him in a good mood first."

Their happiness was so simple. It wasn't contained, wasn't defined by anything. It just was. It was the love that I wanted to have one day...the love that I coveted even though I told myself I didn't. "Yeah...I'd like this to just heal and be done with." I muttered, watching Rikuou's back as he retreated to go find his lover. They were so lucky...so damn lucky. They could do whatever the hell they wanted. They weren't bound by rules.

Picking up my katana, I spent the next hour practicing until I was dizzy and stumbling from the pain in my head, trying to carve the emotions out of my heart and splatter them all over the walls. I didn't think that the one for me would ever come...that I would be stuck in this void forever. If Kaisei couldn't get his happy ending, then how the hell could I expect to get one?

Oddly enough, I was going to get my answer sooner than I ever could have imagined.

xxxxxxx

I had learned long ago that, if Rikuou was going to go put Kazahaya in a good mood, the best policy was to wait a good thirty minutes. When that window was up, I slowly began walking to the infirmary. The brown haired, green eyed ball of spazz seemed to live here when he wasn't with Rikuou; his life's passion was helping people, apparently, though I didn't know how they could stand his incesant talking and the way that he freaked out when he was overwhelmed.

Why Rikuou would go out with the Spazz was beyond me, but I didn't tell him that. He was beyond happy, apparently...which was good for them, because they had to keep their relationship on the down low from my dad. Hiding something like that had to be worth it for them to go to all the trouble of seeing each other in secret, only sharing stolen moments with one another. If they were found out, they would certainly be fired...perhaps even punished.

I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment as I neared the infirmary. Everything in this country seemed to be messed up. It ran okay...but no one could do as they pleased without my father's stamp of approval. It was all drastically skewed in favor of the heterosexual members of our society who had white skin. He often made fun of me because I was darker than most of the people in his kingdom (a fact that he attributed to my mother's 'heathen' family). He wasn't a good king- he was a dictator, an opressor.

_'One day, I'll stop him. I'll make sure that this place can be free of all the crap that my dad's been putting on the people for the last few years.'_

That promise had been in my head since the night that Kaisei had given his life. Never again would I watch a brother or a close friend die because they could never truly be with the one that they loved the most. I would make sure of it.

Approaching Kazahaya's cave, I found the door to be closed. That immediately set off alarm bells in my head – they never closed that door. I supposed that they had to have closed it when they were using the infirmary for their own...personal needs, but I hadn't thought that those two would be in there for so long. I mean, how long did it take to...do _that _with someone?

_'Okay, bad question.' _I thought, a shudder running down my spine. Kazahaya and Rikuou in the throes of passion was definitely not something that I wanted to see. It wasn't like I'd never seen anything like that before (I'd seen some rather inappropriate moments growing up coming from Kaisei and his lover)...but that didn't mean that I really wanted to watch anyone doing that kind of thing again.

"They're in a safer place now. I don't know if it would be wise to...,"

Sounds were coming through the door. I could tell the voice of that annoying spazz anywhere – he was in there having a closed-door conversation with someone. I knew that it had to be Rikuou, and my suspicions were almost instantly confirmed when I heard him sigh, but that didn't explain what they were speaking of and why no one but themselves could hear it.

"Moving them isn't a good idea right now. He just told me that they're...,"

"Wait...again? Isn't this like the third one?!" Kazahaya's voice began to rise in a most interesting way, causing me to press my ear into the door even harder. "How many are they going to-,"

"Keep your voice down, moron!"

"Don't call me a moron!"

I sighed softly, pulling away from the door. Whatever they were talking about was obviously pointless now; these guys could banter for hours if they were left to it. They probably wouldn't even remember what they were talking about when they finally got over it – that was just their relationship. Though it made no sense to me, I admired them for having the patience to actually stick together. In a weird way, it was like they belonged together because they argued all the damn time. For them, arguing was almost like a form of affection, though I was still confused by it. I had always thought that fighting with each other was a sign that the relationship was in trouble...but these guys made it work.

Rapping on the smooth, wooden surface, I heard startled gasps from inside. I opened the door without pretense, my scowling face putting looks of suprise on theirs. "Can you fix my head?" I asked, causing a beat of confused silence to pass between them. Then, lilting laughter came from the brunette as he shook his head, coming over to look at me. _'Weren't they just arguing a second ago? Why is he in such a good mood?'_ I wondered, frowning at him.

"You need to be more careful with our prince, Rikuou. He can't lose many more brain cells!"

I bristled at that comment, growling down at him. "Watch it. I'll have you thrown in the dungeons faster than-,"

"No you won't." Kazahaya said cheerfully, more or less shoving me down into a chair so he could have a look at my head. His cool fingers touched the sore spot, making me hiss in pain. "Wow," The spazzy brunette said, chuckling a little bit. "You got quite a knock there – how hard did you hit him, Rikuou?"

The black haired male shrugged, cracking a hint of a smile. "I guess I could have gone a little easier on him."

I rolled my eyes, wishing that these guys would just stop. I could deal with pain in my head without them creating more of a headache. "Yeah, yeah. Now can you just patch me up so I can leave already?"

Kazahaya sighed, going to the cabinet to get medical supplies. "You're just like your brother." He huffed, sending a stab of pain through my chest. "Always wanting to get up and go, never taking a second just to breathe...it's going to take a toll on you, you know." He cut his green eyes at me, just a few shades lighter than Rikuou's forest green eyes...but not as deep as my brother's had been. "Be a good kid and take a breather every once and awhile, won't you? Kaisei wouldn't want you to stress yourself out."

This was another reason that these two annoyed me; they would always talk about my brother. They had been his best friends back in the day; Kazahaya, Rikuou, Kaisei, and a couple of others had been the talk of the palace back in the day – geniuses, but mischevious troublemakers. They had run around together even when they were adults, always hanging out or making some kind of trouble. I remember that they used to be some of my chief tormentors when I was younger; playing hide and go seek and never finding me, sending me on errands just to get me to leave them alone...to be honest, I had really hated them when I was a kid. I mean, if I had a kid brother now, I would probably do the same, but I still thought that the way that they had treated me was incredibly cruel.

Or, it had been that way...but things changed.

"This is going to sting a little."

The brunette was dabbing a cloth against my forehead; before I knew what was happening, a burning pain sprung up where he was dabbing, distracting me enough almost not to notice that the cloth he was using came away stained red. "Dammit!" I shouted, clawing at the arms of the chair, "Shit that hurts! Can't you use _anything_ else?!"

Kazahaya just rolled his eyes, and may have even started to dab a little harder, just to piss me off. "Grow up, Kurogane. It's only a little alcohol."

I winced as the pain continued, really wanting to punch him in the face for his stupid ass comment. He had no idea what this felt like – he had no room to talk. This guy wasn't the most gentle healer I'd ever known, and just my luck, he had to basically be the only freaking one avaliable. The rest were continuing their education, and had been gone for a couple years to the college in Celes. Kazahaya had been the smart one; he'd come here with all of his damn ducks in a row, leaving me stuck with him when the people that would actually kiss my ass were gone. I wouldn't get any gentle treatment or sympathy from him.

_'Man, now I'm sounding like a moron.'_ I thought to myself, taking a deep breath as I tried my best to stay quiet. I sensed the relief in the two beside me; no matter what they said, they could get in trouble for causing me pain from my father. Though he wasn't all that fond of me, the king would take any chance to dole out punishment. When they were already on the line with their relationship, they didn't need to be examined any closer.

"Kurogane-sama?"

I turned my eyes to Rikuou, waiting for him to go on. "Are you doing anything extremely important this week?"

I frowned, sighing. "Just trying to become the king of this place." I muttered. "What do you mean by 'extremely important'?"

"I know that your father will be adamant that you attend every lesson that you possibly can, but...," Rikuou trailed off, looking at Kazahaya. I followed his eyes, noticing how pale the other male looked. "...I need to show you something. I think you're finally old enough now to-,"

"Rikuou." Kazahaya's tone was anything but amicable. It was severe, clipped; something was going on that I didn't know about, and that chilled me to the core. "We haven't discussed this."

"He's eighteen, Kaz. It's time that he knew."

"What do I need to know?" I demanded, watching them both stiffen. This was getting steadily more interesting – now, I knew for sure that there was something they were keeping from me.

"...We wanted to go to town with you, Kurogane-sama." Rikuou said hesitantly, taking a deep breath before he went on. "There is something that you need to see-,"

"How do you know that he's prepared?!" Kazahaya butted in, glowering at Rikuou. "How do you know that it's safe? Fei Wong's denziens could be crawling all over the place! You have no idea what you're about to put him through. And for what? Peace of mind? Let me tell you something, Rikuou, being mentally at peace _won't change the fact that you're dead_!"

"The truth can't be hidden forever! Kaz, they are _suffering_! They need _help_! This isn't just about Kurogane-sama; it's about much more than that!"

If I had been confused before, now I was just lost. This was weird for Kazahaya – his levels of spazz usually didn't get to 'really creepy'. I wanted to know right now what it was they were talking about. It was obviously something that I needed to know, something about me...I didn't have time for this bullshit. Not when there was a kingdom outside these walls that I needed to run. These guys were wasting the time that I could have been spending going around and learning about being a king – or more importantly, how to defend my country – just so that they could have it out with one another!

"You are saying that we have to bring them out of-,"

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?!"

My voice silenced them, its roar reverberating from the walls of the room. I was the athourity here; it was time to excersize my ability to do so. I wasn't about to let them sit here and carry on like I wasn't in the room. I was the _crown prince_, for crying out loud! If there was a matter that was to concern me, I wouldn't let other people decide my fate for me!

"If there is something that I _need_ to know, the floor is open. Otherwise, _answer me_. _What_ do you want me to _do_?" I said between gritted teeth, slowly so that these two clowns could understand. I mean, I held Rikuou in high regard as a friend, more like the brother that had been pulled from my side. But I would not take this crap. He always got like this around Kazahaya – he actually spoke up, and had a freaking opinion about _everything_. Normally, he would keep his words to himself, but around the spazz, he was always so outspoken and bold. It freaked me the the hell out; I wasn't used to seeing him that way. I didn't want him to speak when he could be silent. After all, I had to bottle up my feelings all the damn time; why couldn't he?

There was a long pause in which I nearly walked out on them. I wanted to give these guys a chance, but if they were going to waste my time with this stupid 'I'm going to dance around so that I'll keep you guessing instead of coming clean with you' shit, then I was going to leave. I hated it when people weren't upfront with me; both of these idiots knew that. Why they weren't telling me anything, when they normally told me everything, escaped me.

A thought pricked up in the back of my mind in that moment that I would pass off now, and later never be able to forget. _'Is this the only thing that they aren't telling me?' _I wondered. _'I mean, if they were keeping something small like a trip destination secret...I don't think that they're going to come clean and say that they've murdered an entire village or anything, but these guys could be hiding other things from me, too,' _

"Your highness...we didn't mean any harm." Rikuou bowed, finally remembering the position that he was in. He was a suboordinate; a friend, but below me. I wasn't going to take any crap from him. "I just...this information that we have for you is not for the palace walls. It must be discussed far from here...somewhere that we can speak alone."

That got me interested. I raised an eyebrow at the male, asking him to go on with my gaze. Of course, Kazahaya would have none of that. He stepped between us, shaking his head. "The time is not right. This baka here doesn't understand that." He looked up at me...and for the first time, I saw something akin to...pleading in his eyes.

Kazahaya Kudo had never, _ever _looked at me with such vulnerablity.

"Please, Kurogane. I need you to be patient for the time being. There will come a time that everything will be explained...but for now, I need oyu to trust that we know the answers, and we know how to handle the situation." Those green eyes captured mine; it was almost hypnotic, in a way. I managed to pull myself out of his gaze enough to look away, finding it difficult to even look into the other male's eyes a second time for fear that he would trap me there again.

"...I won't speak of this meeting." I said finally, deciding it was best to meet them in the middle. "However, I want an explanation, and _soon_. Am I understood?"

Kazahaya looked at me, and shook his hed, looking more and more unnerved as time went on. "I'm afraid I cannot promise you that, Kurogane. This time, there's just too much at stake."

xxxxxxx

_A lonely child, playing with his toys. His mother and father have been fighting again. He is surrounded by the blackness of the room at night, not knowing how to turn on the lamps. Something has been happening. Voices have been whispering. He is afraid, but he doesn't know what he's supposed to be afraid of. _

_The night drags on, and the boy remains lonely. Voices outside his door have become intelligible. _

_"The prince is late," One says. _

_"You don't think that he ran away?" Another asks. _

_"He probably did. Or he's off having relations with some of the Celestian maids. I've always heard that they were the most beautiful of all the women in the realm." _

_"Hush now, Tomoe! You don't know who might be listening!"_

_"Oh, calm down. No one's here but the young lord, and heavens above know that he can't understand what we're speaking of." _

_They were wrong. Always wrong. The boy was smarter than he seemed. He understood so much more than anyone realized. He was eleven, for crying out loud; already reading a lot of books and learning how to use his sword. He wasn't a moron. _

_Kaisei used those words a lot. Moron. Idiot. Stupid. He was always talking down. He never thought that there was anything good about his little brother. Kaisei hated...he just hated. _

_There was no one that Kaisei loved. He was just cold. Always would be cold. Nothing but cold. _

_Hours passed. Sitting in the dark, tears leaked down the boy's cheeks. He began to cry for the first time in a long time, wishing that he weren't so alone. Wishing that someone would just come in...come in and talk to him, and turn on the..._

_The lights went on. _

_The boy turned, his eyes widening when he saw the last person that he ever expected to see. "Kaisei...," He said softly, surprise turning to fear. Kaisei always thought that he was a baby when he cried, and he liked to personally punish him for it. His brother was nothing but a mean jerk, a horrible person that just...that just deserved to..._

_"...Kurogane...," _

_The older boy swept his younger brother up in his arms, twirling him around in the air. "Why are you crying?" _

_His voice was so soft, so warm. He was suddenly so...bright. Just...bright. The boy had never been able to picture his brother like that before. The cloudy boy had suddenly turned into this explosion of color and light, almost blinding the little boy with his happiness. _

_What in the world was going on? _

_"Y-you can't trick me, Kaisei-nii. I know that you're just pretending...," The little boy growled, trying to squirm out of his grasp. "Just leave me alone!" _

_Kaisei stopped suddenly, stiffening. "...Pretending...," He said softly, looking at the younger boy in his arms. _

_The younger one knew that he had done it; now, his older brother was going to snap and yell at him; was going to hurt him and make him wish that he would never have been born-_

_"I've been pretending for my whole life." Kaisei looked at Kurogane, those impossibly green eyes, fathomlessly deep, molding with his. "For the first time...I feel like this is real." _

_The boy was confused. "What's real, Kaisei-nii?" _

_The older grinned, placing Kurogane on the bed. "Everything, Kurogane. _Everything._"_

xxxxxxx

_"Everything is real," _

I shot out of bed, my heart slamming against my ribs. I clutched my hand chest, breathing erractic and heavy, feeling like I'd just run a marathon as hard and long as I possibly could.

"Kaisei...?" I panted, his words reverberating over and over in my head. Everything is real...everything is real...what did that mean? I knew what he had meant when he'd said it; was it just a piece of the dream that I liked to hold on to coming back to me, or was my brother trying to tell me something from wherever the hell he was now?

I curled in on myself, forcing my body to calm. I took slow, deep breaths, trying my damndest to get myself under control. I wasn't about to freak out on everyone; they had been concerned for my sanity when Kaise died – I didn't need them to be worrying about me now. Especially when Kazahaya and Rikuou wanted me to sneak out of the palace with them soon.

It had been weeks since they'd spoken to me about it the first time. That entire time, I had been patiently waiting for them to say something to me...anything about whatever it was that was apparently important enough that they couldn't speak of within the palace walls. The curiosity had nearly killed me – I had wanted to beat the answers out of them several times, or hang them up by their toes until they came clean. Something in me knew that I needed to hear this, and that unconsious part would not rest until I had my answers.

Fortunately, this morning they had come together, and told me that I was to be ready to depart early in the morning...this morning, now that I thought about it. I didn't know where we were going, much less what we were planning to do there, but I trusted Rikuou. I even trusted the little spazz.

I knew that I needed to sleep, but right now, it just wouldn't come. I got up and walked to the balcony, mussing my hair. It was a nervous habit that my dad found really unbecoming of me; I didn't give a shit. I did it to annoy him for the most part...but now, it was like a comfort gesture. I did that a lot when I thought about Kaisei; right now, when my thoughts were consumed with him, it was almost like I couldn't stop my hand from automatically going to my hair.

I opened the french doors, going out to the ivory railing encasing the balcony. There was a similar railing that my brother had jumped over when he killed himself. It was a long way down to the ground; I wondered for a moment whether or not he'd been in pain when he'd died, or if he hadn't felt anything – perhaps he had just woken up in the next world. I could only hope that he hadn't had to suffer anymore. He had done enough of that while he was alive.

Clutching the white railing hard enough to make my knuckles go white, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, focusing on the night air. It felt great out here; good enough to make me want to stay for awhile. _'Screw sleeping,'_ I thought, opening my eyes again to look out at the woods, black with night, that bordered the city. _'It's not helping me any. I might as well take a break when I'm awake if my dam dreams won't give me one.'_

I thought I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye to the far right of the palace grounds. It had shone in the moonlight, alerting me to its presence; when I snapped my gaze there, I found that there was nothing; the grounds were as empty now as they had been before. Or so I'd thought. As soon as I had settled myself to thinking that it was just a part of my imagination, I saw a figure with blonde hair and pale skin walking out onto the grounds, looking right up at where I was.

I strained to look down, to see who it was and what was going on. The night and the foliage around where the figure stood made them almost impossible to see. I nearly gave up...until the person came a little closer. I knew that face. I would never, ever be able to forget...

"Yui?!" I called, my eyes widening. The figure stiffened suddenly, as though it had been burned. It started to make for the edge of the grounds, but I was already running. There was a secret set of servant's stairs that lead to the bottom floor from my room – from there, it was as simple as running out the kitchen door, and I was on the grounds. I ran as fast and as hard as I could to the place where I had seen them, desperate to catch the only being that would ever be able to understand what I was feeling for Kaisei...because that person was surely in more grief than I could ever be.

"Yui!" I yelled, trying my best to keep up. I saw a flash of gold in the bushes, and immediately headed for it. I didn't care who was staring at this point; there weren't any other people here besides me and...

I dove into the foliage without another thought, desperately searching for the boy that had dominated so much of my brother's life; the one that he had been the closest to. I had been trying to see him ever since Kaisei had died; I wanted answers to why he wasn't with me anymore. I wanted to know about his pain...about what he had been feeling the night that he'd thrown himself from the balcony. I understood that he probably wouldn't want to speak of those things...but too damn bad. I had gone _years_ not knowing why my brother decided to do something so stupid, and he had never been around before to answer those questions.

I opened my mouth to yell one last time, desperately hoping that this would make a difference. But before I knew what was happening, I was stopped in my tracks, the glint of a sword pointed at my throat. I growled, looking up at my assailant...and my gaze immediately softened.

"Yui." I said simply, looking at him. "Do you know who I am?"

I wouldn't mistake those blue eyes anywhere, or that flaxen hair that seemed to fall just so. Yui had been one of the most beautiful men I'd ever seen; his Celestian blood accounted for that. Those people were all just extremely beautiful; it was no surprise that, even as a child, I had registered his attractiveness. Yet, now that he was before me, looking dangerous and otherworldy, I felt an echo of feelings somewhere inside of me that I'd never felt before.

"I'm not."

It took me a moment to register that he had spoken. His voice was so soft, his words like music that gently drifted into my ears. I frowned, trying to understand what he was trying to say. "Not what?"

"Yui. I'm not." The male looked at me, blue eyes shining in the darkness. "I'm not Yui."

That was impossible. I looked at him and stared, trying to search my memory to see if there were any differences. I couldn't think of any; this guy had the same blonde hair and blue eyes, unless he was wearing some kind of disguise.

A smile spread across those pink lips, and the male before me chuckled, drawing his knife away from my throat. "Your confusion is endearing, Kuro-chan." He said, immediately sparking irritation in me. Well, that was one difference – I had always been Kurogane-san to Yui.

_'Did my brother's loss drive him insane...?'_ I wondered, my eyes widening. I realized what was going on now; Celes had probably tried to keep him from coming here and seeing the complete truth of Kaisei's death. Not knowing had driven Yui to his breaking point, and now he was searching for my brother...a person that wasn't even buried on the palace grounds.

"Don't call me Kuro-chan." I chose my words carefully, not wanting to set him off or anything. "If you're looking for my brother...he's not...he's not here." I could barely force the words to come out; it felt like they were stuck in my throat, rotting and decaying there along with Kaisei's body.

"Of course not," The blonde said cheerfully, "Your brother is dead, Kuro-chan~ I thought that you knew that!"

I flinched as though I had been slapped in the face. I tried to back away, but I found that my body wouldn't move; I was frozen in place, but I didn't understand why. "What the...what the hell?!" I demanded, looking up again.

"What's the magic woooooord~?"

"LET ME THE FUCK DOWN!"

"Kuro-myuuu~ that was a whole sentence!" The blonde whined, bringing up yet another insufferable mutilation of my name. I growled again, thrashing wildly.

"SHUT UP! Let me down, NOW!"

"Sheesh~ Kuro-chan is so mean!" The snarky blonde snapped his fingers, causing me to fall. My face slammed into the ground, making me even angrier. I lept to my feet as quickly as I could, wanting to lunge for him and beat him to a pulp. Yui was sure being an asshole – insane or not, I wasn't going to stand for this shit.

"Quit saying my name like that! My name is Kurogane! It's not Kuro-chan, or Kuro-myuu... . ." I grabbed the collar of his shirt and hauled him up, his face close to mine. "You will call me that, or I'll-,"

"Or you'll what?"

Before I knew what had happened, I was lying on my back, looking up at the stars. The blonde squatted down next to me, smiling wryly. "You know, you're awfully slow~ anyone from Celes would have seen that coming really fast!"

I opened my mouth to yell at him some more, but the blonde put a finger to my lips. "It was lovely talking to you, Kuro-sama...but I'm afraid I must go. Keep this little secret between us, 'kay?"

I took a deep breath, about to yell at him again...but he just gave me a small smile and walked forward, disappearing through the thick foliage. It was a full minute before my lungs losened, allowing me to release the scream that had been building in my throat.

"YUI! Oi, YUI! COME BACK!"


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry this update was so slow! I had a major test last week...but hey, hopefully this will be something to make your Monday at least slightly better xD Mine was eventful! We had this huge rainstorm come through, and I was almost sure that my college campus was about to be washed away!

Any Phantom of the Opera fans out there? I just re-discovered that play, and I remember now how much I LOVE IT. I really want to write a KuroFai fanfiction, but I just don't know how! D:

But anyway, here's to the things that you really care about!

**Reviews: **

**ChouRan -** Thank you! Unfortunately, you'll just have to wait and see to answer that :P I'm excited to get the rest of this out to you, though! I hope you enjoy the update!

Thank you to everyone who is favoriting, following, reviewing, and reading this story! That makes me really want to write, which means more stuff for you guys! :) I hope that you all have a marvelous week! ^.^

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><p><em><strong>"There was a time that Kurogane actually smiled, you know. Once, he was the happiest little boy alive when Kaisei and Yui would play with him in the garden." <strong>_

_Kaisei was different. As of late, he had started walking around the palace like he was happy. He would smile, hum, and open curtains when, before, he had always looked tired and grumpy, and had liked the dark better than the light. He absolutely shone when he walked by...and I found that I liked him a lot more now. He wanted to play with me instead of insisting that I was just some nuisance. I found myself enjoying this Kaisei more than I had liked the one before. If someone had kidnapped my brother and left this agreeable, amiable person in his place, then I certainly wasn't complaining. My brother was someone who I could actually stand now; I actually felt like I loved him. _

_I couldn't really pinpoint the exact moment that I noticed the difference. It was like the sun never shone in Kaisei's life before the day that he met Yui-san...then, the world, for him, exploded into vibrant color. I found that he was suddenly interested in everything again, when he hadn't been for years. He was living his life now, instead of wishing that it would just end. _

_All I knew was that he had gone to the Celes prince's sixteenth birthday party, and come back completely different. _

_I didn't know much about Celes...I just knew that it was a place that was the sky blue, where everyone had really pale eyes. I had never been there myself, and neither had Kai; we had a treaty with them, but that didn't mean that we really interacted. Father seemed almost...suspicious of them for some reason. _

_That was why I thought that Celes was a beautiful place. When came back, he was so happy...I thought that it was because that place had changed him some how. I wouldn't figure out how wrong I was until the night of my twelfth birthday. _

_I was exhausted from the long day of parties and being presented to the court – every young prince did that at my age. It wasn't as big as Kaisei's had been, of course. I wasn't the crown prince, after all. My older brother had the birthright, and he loved to lord it over me. _

_Or...he had. That day, I'd expected him to act as though my birthday were nothing special...but he had congratulated me, treated me as though I was royalty. I'd been confused about it all day, thinking that he was probably setting me up to prank me or something. _

_Kaisei had been nicer than usual for the past couple of months. It was weird...he showed more of his emotions now, and played with me. I mean, I was glad that my brother actually wanted to spend time with me now...but I kept waiting for the old brother to come back. _

_He never did. It wasn't until that night, after all the festivities, that I would figure out why. _

_I'd heard some strange noises outside my bedroom window. My room was beside Kaisei's, so I knew exactly where the noise was coming from; it sounded like two people were out on the balcony, talking. I groaned, getting out of my bed and going to the white doors, covered with white curtains. When I opened the door, the curtains fluttered in the night breeze, creating an ethereal entrance to the outside. As soon as I was out in the cool night air, I turned to tell my brother off...but the sight that met my eyes stole the words from me. _

_Kaisei, wrapped in his own curtains with a boy...a blonde, slim boy, who had his arms around his neck. Their lips were joined...and Kaisei's half-mast eyes were glittering with happiness. _

**xxxxxx**

"You know, Kurogane...yelling around in the garden at three o'clock in the morning really isn't a great way to free yourself up to miss-,"

I shot Kazahaya a look that shut him up in two seconds. I'd already taken a lot of shit today for what had happened last night...and it was all that damn blonde's fault.

As soon as that ass had left, the servants had come outside to see what in the world was doing. I still could remember the looks of fear on their faces, as though I had turned into an insane monster, as they asked me what was going on. No one believed that I had seen Yui right here on the palace grounds – they told me that he would have no reason to come here, since the only reason for his interest in Nihon was dead and gone. I kept telling everyone that I had seen him there, but they all just thought I'd had a bad dream or something.

The worst part was that my dad had come to see me after things died down. He'd given me this long lecture about how Kaisei was gone, that he wasn't coming back, and I needed to stop holding on to him like this. He said that the next time something like this happened, I would immediately be whisked away to the country...away from everything I knew and loved until I could straighten myself. I'd only been there on amazingly boring vacations to accompany my parents. That castle in the outskirts of Nihon was boring as hell – I couldn't stand it. Of course, he knew that...and he would play it against me as long as it was convenient for him.

Hesitantly, I agreed to drop the matter...and I conceded to spend the rest of the day in my room to acquaint myself with reality, or so my father put it.

Kazahaya and Rikuou had decided to come in a while later. I knew that they were kinda pissed because they'd planned to go do whatever it was that they couldn't talk about today, but there was no changing anything. It wasn't like I wanted to just stay in my room all day, but there was no other choice. I'd doomed myself by following that kid onto the grounds, and now I was going to pay for it. Everyone had already thought that I was mentally unstable, but now they would be sure.

"You said...you saw Yui last night?" Rikuou asked hesitantly, looking over at me. I nodded once, sighing.

"No one believes me, though, so it doesn't matter. Go on, you guys can call me crazy too." I muttered, looking out the window. I wished that there was someone who would say that I was right, that I hadn't just dreamed the entire thing...but now, I was starting to doubt it myself. Was what I had seen real? Or was I going crazy?

"...I believe you." Rikuou said finally, looking at him. His gaze went to Kazahaya, who was staring at him with a warning glance in his eyes. "Yui could have been here last night. It's not totally improbable."

"Rikuou, don't lie." Kazahaya snapped. I was about to pipe up and rip into him...but the look in his eyes made me stop. The spazzy brunette almost looked...scared.

"You know it's not outside of the realm of possibility, Kaz." The general said quietly, looking down at his feet. "He can do whatever he wants."

"We _both_ know that is highly improbable." The brunette wasn't giving an inch, but neither was his lover. I was so impressed with them, though I would never admit it; how they managed to argue like this and still stay together was beyond me.

"Perhaps." Rikuou said, finally conceding. He was a really nice guy to do that for Kazahaya – but I still didn't like the way the magician was talking to him. Now that I thought about it, Kazahaya had seemed to have a stick up his ass for a long time now; he was always sniping at Rikuou or telling him that he was wrong or something. I wanted to give him what for, but I respected Rikuou too much to do that. The general loved this guy for some reason, and I would respect that. Eventually, he would see the error of his ways and dump this moron; I would be there for him when he finally got to his senses and needed someone to talk to.

But...there was a measure of understanding in their gaze; like they were sympathizing with each other even though they were fighting. It just made me extremely confused.

"We'll take you out with us in a little while," Rikuou said softly, never taking his eyes off of Kazahaya. "We'll just give this a little time to die down. But until then, try not to get in trouble again, would you?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I'll try."

Kazahaya looked at me, green eyes highlighted with a spark of mirth. "You'd better." His voice was soft, so unlike the man who I thought he was. "We're counting on you."

**xxxxxx**

I had lain down in my room, looking up at the ceiling as I tried my best to find some way to relieve my boredom. Sitting in my room forever was something that I hated doing, but if my dad caught me wandering about, he'd probably make that countryside threat a reality. I didn't want to risk pissing him off too much.

All I wanted to do was go practice with Rikuou again, but he'd said that working out with swords in an enclosed space was too dangerous. I didn't know what I was going to do if I ever had to fight in an enclosed space, but according to my father, I never should have had a reason to. I was going to sit on my throne, grow old and fat, and sire many children to take my place. That was the job description of a king.

It was then that the paper plane sailed into my window.

I almost didn't register what it was at first; all I knew was that something had come into my room and landed right beside where I was laying on my bed. Curiously, I rose to find the delicately folded stationary waiting for me. I didn't know who would have that kind of exact trajectory, but I would to find out. I carefully unfolded the paper, frowning when I found it blank.

"What the...?" I thought, standing and holding it up to the light. As soon as the sun's rays touched the paper, words began to fade into existence. My breath caught as I read the message, dumbfounded by it.

Magic was not permitted in this kingdom. My father had outlawed it as soon as he had gotten the throne. If I, the crown prince, were caught with something like this, there was no telling what kind of stir it would cause.

_"Follow me, Kuro-sama!"_

Immediately, I knew who had sent this. My brow narrowed; that person from last night...Yui or not, they were a magician. I was taught from birth that magicians were at best avoided, and at worst exterminated. My father had placed those rules to protect our kingdom...Celes, the country that Yui had come from, shattered and torn apart by magic. If it were to enter Nihon, it might do the same to us.

_'I have to stop this.'_ I thought, immediately rising. I shredded the paper and tossed it away...but it just reformed on the table. I flinched away from it, watching as it formed itself back into a plane and started levitating right there.

I lunged for the paper, but it easily evaded me; instead, it went to the servant's door in my room, repeatedly flying into it and being knocked back by the surface of the heavy oak door. I watched it for several minutes, trying to see what it would do...but it seemed as though nothing would happen until I opened that door.

Cautiously, I reached around the plane and opened the door. It flew down the steps, pausing when it got to the bottom.

_'Follow me...,'_ I thought, taking one step and watching the frail plane. It didn't move; obviously, I apparently needed to step forward a little more than that. I sighed, finally deciding that I was just going to risk it. After all, a little adventure was better than being stuck in my room for the rest of the day. I followed the little paper plane down the steps, thanking my lucky stars that no one in the kitchen was paying any attention. I slipped out the back door, keeping the little plane in my direct line of sight.

The delicate thing lead me through the trees and the foliage to a human-sized hole in the palace wall that I hadn't known was there. Looking at it, I saw that it wasn't recent; it had been here for a long time. My eyes widened as I drew my fingers over it – how had we had such a breach in our defenses, and no one had known about it?

_'How would Yui have known about something like this?' _I wondered, eventually moving on and passing through the opening with almost no trouble at all. It was a little shorter than I was, though, and a bit thinner...I couldn't help thinking that perhaps this was made specifically for someone.

_'Maybe he used to come through here...,'_ I thought, my eyes widening. Of course! That would make sense – I had always wondered how he'd managed to sneak to the palace grounds without my father knowing. Here was the answer, right in front of me! I turned back to the hole, eager to look around for any clues as to...well, anything that I hadn't known before, but something kind of sharp jabbed into my shoulder.

"Oi-!" I turned around, coming face to tip with the paper plane. It hovered menacingly, as though it was trying to tell me that I needed to hurry the hell up. "Stupid piece of-," I muttered, but immediately stopped when the thing got close to my face again. Whatever this magic was, it was awfully stupid – who would give a damn paper plane a friggin' personality? All it had to do was lead me to its master.

I followed behind it, noticing how it avoided all the streets. It was smart, I gave it that – if the people saw a floating plane, or hell, if they saw _me_, this entire thing would go to shit. This had been throughly planned out, and now was being perfectly executed. Yui had done this whole thing seemingly effortlessly.

_'How much damn power can one guy have?!' _I thought, starting to get a little worried about what I was getting myself into. I didn't want to walk into a situation that I had absolutely no control over – that was something that a moron did. I needed to catch him by surprise, to show him that he wasn't the one pulling the strings.

But, if I was being honest with myself...I was royally fucked.

As soon as I saw the shop that I was being lead into, I had to pause. I mean, I was expecting this thing to take me to some cave out in the middle of the woods.

Not a little trinket shop in the dead center of town.

Little wind chimes were gently chiming in the breeze, a smell like vanilla coming from inside. Billowing red curtains had been hung, reaching for me with its vibrant colors. I wanted to shy away...to not come any closer. There was just something about me being in a place that sold things like _wind chimes _and _hair combs_ and other girly accessories that just...no. There was no way in hell that I was going in there. No fucking -

Another sharp jab to the middle of my spine made me cry out in surprise. The stupid little plane kept coming at me this time, trying to push me into the shop. "Dammit!" I yelled, spinning around and trying to swat at the thing, but it was no use. It was just too freaking fast!

"Is someone there?"

I froze as the sound of solider's boots started to come closer. _'Shit. If they catch me out here, I'm dead meat.'_ I thought, realizing that I was out of options. There was nothing left for me to do but...go in there.

The moment that I stepped through the doorway and heard what sounded like soft singing, I felt like I wanted to bolt. It seemed to be coming from a back room, thankfully, but through the hazy, sultry vanilla smell that was now permeating the air, I couldn't really tell. My mind was getting foggy – I went over to a couch and sat down for a moment, trying to breathe past the...whatever it was that was making me so dizzy.

Eventually, my mind became fully clouded; I wasn't aware of what I was doing when I stood up; hell, I didn't even remember it! I just knew that a few minutes later, I was standing before another door without any other conscious thought. The vanilla scent began to fade a little, but I still didn't have enough mental faculty to really know what I was doing. All I was aware of was that I could hear that singing coming from the other side of that door.

I lifted my hand to the doorknob and turned it, finding it unlocked. I walked into the room, hit with the full force of what felt like...steam? The whole damn place felt like a fucking sauna! It blinded me, it was so thick – all I could do was stumble forward, trying to find something that told me where the hell I was.

Before I knew what I was doing, my knee hit something and sent me off-balance. I was suddenly hurtling forward; I closed my eyes, expecting to feel the hard floor...but instead of the cold, hard floor, my face slammed into something warm, wet..._alive. _

I was vaguely aware that I had landed in water, but I still wasn't sure where I was. I groaned softly, lifting my hand up a bit to try to gain the leverage I needed to sit up. When my hand-made contact with something soft and _fleshy_, my hand froze. But it wasn't that feeling that made my blood run cold...it was the _sound _that followed it.

"Ahn~!"

I immediately snapped my head, looking for the source of the noise...and found myself drowning in _his _blue eyes.

For a moment, I was frozen...but the blush on his face, the eyes widened in surprise, the way that he blinked at me in shock...I didn't know what this strange adrenaline was...why it was coursing through my body like this...but it made me want to...

I recoiled, throwing myself back. "What the _hell_?!" I demanded, shoving myself as far away from him as I could muster. "What is this place? What just...?!"

Yui winked at me, throwing his arms over the lip of the tub and grinning in a way that really made me uncomfortable. "Well, I didn't expect our next meeting to be quite so..._sexual_~," He giggled, eyes gleaming. "I'm flattered that you feel so strongly for me, Kuro-min, but honestly, we did just meet the other day-,"

"_I told you not to call me those stupid nicknames!_" I bellowed, wanting to grab him, but holding back because of his lack of clothing. There was no way in HELL that I was going to get anywhere closer to him than as far away as I could freaking be! I didn't know what the fuck was going on with me, and what was going on, but as far as I knew, I wasn't into guys...especially not one who belonged to my brother.

That made me narrow my eyes, even more anger flooding into me. I stood up, trying to storm my way out of the bathtub, but a hand on my shoulder somehow stopped all the movement in me. He was standing behind me now – I was acutely aware of his presence. I could hear the water dripping from his body and landing in the tub, could hear the slight puff of his breathing. But more than all of that...he was naked, dammit! I didn't want to be anywhere fucking near him until he had some clothes on!

"You're angry, Kuro-rinta~ What did I do?"

"YOU ARENT WEARING ANY CLOTHES!" I yelled out, turning around, snatching his hand and throwing it away from me. I noticed that he winced in pain a bit; something in my heart pinched in pain, though I didn't know why. This moron deserved every part of what he got! He was totally willing to see someone else, even though the one person he said he would love for life was dead! He was-!

He was completely naked.

I couldn't help but stare. This boy...he was perfection. He wasn't muscular, more elegant in a lanky sort of way, shaped like a master's piece of art, not at all like any other male that I'd ever seen. And yes, he was beautiful, but that did not mean that I wanted him in any way, shape or form. No way in hell. Absolutely, positively, _certainly_ I would never-

"Um...Kuro-bun...?" Yui asked, poking me in the shoulder. My face flashed with heat, and I snapped around again, trying to will the blush on my face to go the _hell _away. Now was not the time to get flustered, dammit!

"Dammit! Just put some clothes on!"

Yui chuckled at that, playfully trailing a finger across my shoulders. My skin began to tingle in a _very_ unpleasant way, sending my anger through the roof. "Quit playing, dammit!" I yelled, managing to get myself out of the tub and back towards the direction that I thought was...

I didn't know where the fuck I was now.

The familiar feeling of my trousers and button down shirt disappeared; I looked down just as a silky feeling fabric replaced them. What I saw before me was a beautiful black robe, tied about the waist so that I wouldn't show anything that I didn't want to. I looked to Yui in shock, and saw that he was wearing one colored in white, with gold stitching that depicted what looked like a bird soaring across the front. "I'll let your wet clothes dry." He said softly, giving me a smile. "I summoned you here, Kuro-tan~ I really was hoping that you might want to stay awhile."

I looked at him, still a little scared and more than creeped out. "What did you want me here for? Why did you send for me?" I asked, realizing for the first time just how screwed I was. He was a powerful magician; probably more powerful than anyone I'd ever met. I mean, Kazahaya was from Celes, but he never showed his magic in court – there was nothing for me to compare to. I was alone with a magician in his home, where he could apparently manipulate whatever the hell he wanted. I had no choice but to play his game.

Yui smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I got bored!" He giggled, amusement only growing when he saw the rage twist my features into a snarl.

"Look, you moron! I didn't come out here to entertain you! I want to know why the hell you're using magic in a country where it's banned! What the hell do you want with me? Why are you here? And why were you on the palace grounds last night?!"

Yui turned away from me, and walked forward. The steam cleared around him as he walked, revealing the door on the opposite side of where I had tried to go. "You have a lot of questions~," He said softly, turning his head so that he could smile at me. "Curiosity just makes you cuter!"

I stomped after Yui, wanted to rip his neck from his shoulders. He opened the door, and a cool breeze calmed the muggy heat that had consumed me for all of my stay in this sauna. "You little-! Answer my questions, dammit! I don't have time for you to give me such stupid-ass remarks!"

Yui just kept going, turning around only once to give me a smile. "I'll tell you everything that you _need _to know, Kuro-myuu~ nothing more." I opened my mouth to complain about that, but to my horror, he actually put a long, pale, elegant finger _on my lips_ to keep me from speaking.

"Starting with my name. I'm not Yui, as I've already told you." The male in front of me looked me straight in the eye, a smile as fake as my father's covering his face. "My name is Fai...and I'm Yui's twin brother. I want to know why you thought that I was him last night."

The male took his finger away, the serious look in his eye calming me just a bit. "I thought you were him because you wear his face...," I said, studying him. It was true that he was nothing like Yui...nothing like him at all. Could it really be possible that he'd had a twin brother all this time, and I'd never known about it? Hell, had Kaisei known about it? They could have switched all the time, and he never would have known! "I thought that you were him...looking for Kaisei. But surely you heard in Celes, right? Kaisei...died."

There was a slight twinge to the other male's mask, a chip in his armor that I immediately detected. But it was soon forgotten when he spoke his next words.

"Yes, we all knew...but I suppose you didn't know that, the same day that your brother died, mine died as well."

**xxxxxx**

We were sitting in what appeared as this...Fai person's living room a few minutes later, still silent after what the blonde had revealed. I was still dumbfounded, shocked, and hardly able to speak. I couldn't believe that after all this time, I hadn't known that Yui was dead. I had promised myself that, as soon as I was king, I was going to find hi and take care of him for my brother...but knowing that it was impossible now was like a blow to my chest. I had lost my last connection to Kai.

I didn't know what to do anymore. I could only stare at the red carpet below the sofa I was sitting on, trying to get my brain to think about something – anything. It was like my thoughts were being completely unresponsive. I could only remember feeling this way when I had learned of my brother's death; that day, I hadn't believed my father when he told me. I ran to the room where they were preparing his body, and saw his corpse. For days after that, all I only gazed into space, trying to find some way to wrap my mind around what had just happened.

Now, however, there was no time for that. I couldn't let on that I was upset by anything; I was to become king. And, if my father had always known, there would be no sense in telling him. Nihon couldn't be expected to grieve for Yui like they had my brother, and no one would grieve for a person who had already been dead for several years. I was alone with my grief-

Well, perhaps not completely alone anymore.

I looked over at the blonde across from me just as he finally decided to speak up. "You know," He began, leaning back in his chair and gazing up at the ceiling, "I didn't know that Kai-chan was gone until a few days after it happened. I had the same intentions you did, I guess – I wanted to find him and demand answers from him." Fai chuckled a bit, moving his gaze to me. "But I didn't realize what a stupid idea that was until I finally made it over to Nihon. Even if I had shown my face at your palace, I'd be barred from its gates because I look too much like Yui. Never mind that Kaisei was dead – your father had him on lockdown, if I remember correctly. His request to marry my brother really drove him over the edge."

"Ain't that the truth." I muttered, frowning at his words. "But what about that hole in the wall? I'm assuming that you knew about it too, since Yui did." I looked over at him, registering faint surprise in his gaze. He hadn't expected me to know anything about their tricks – boy, was I about to prove them wrong. I hadn't been a blind or stupid kid; I had figured out a bunch of what Yui and Kaisei used to do when they were alone. I even knew how Kai would sneak out to go see Yui in Celes (by way of Kazahaya and Rikuou, who could cover for him and make sure that he had a means of transportation). There were a lot of things I knew, but more that I did not.

Why did Kaisei kill himself?

"I didn't...I didn't think that it would be right to do that. Kaisei might have thought that I was my brother at first, and I didn't want to give him that hope and then dash it to pieces."

My eyes widened at that information. I hadn't thought that this person mentally able to care for other people like this. He had seemed too fake to me – too calculated. He knew how to push buttons, how to make situations fit him. I could tell with how he spoke with me, and the way that he always seemed to know how to twist my thoughts no matter what I said.

I had decided that not talking was probably the best course of action, so silence reigned in the room for a while. Even more annoying was the fact that Fai didn't seem to give a shit; he was perfectly comfortable wtih silence and speaking. He didn't care which I used; he was able to weasel out of both effortlessly.

"Yui's death was a suicide too, wasn't it?" I asked, turning my eyes to Fai. That seemed to prick the other male a bit – he flinched a little, slipping a smile in place.

"Yes. It was."

The curt way that he said it made me sure that this wasn't all there was to the story. I studied him carefully, thinking about my next question and how best to pry the information that I needed from his mind. "Did he ever seem like he was sad? Like he would take his own life?"

Fai took a short breath and laughed a bit, looking rather uncomfortable. It was a good look for him, seeing as though he had seemed like his mind was impenetrable before. But now, I knew that he had his weaknesses; I wasn't afraid to exploit them for all they were worth, no matter what the result.

"He did not mention any wishes to die, if that's what you mean." Fai said softly, shrugging his shoulders. "There were a few factors that I believe contributed to it, but as a whole, his life was not terrible."

_'Terrible...,' _The way that Fai had said that immediately made me doubt the truthfulness of that statement. He seemed like he was lying through his teeth – my distrust of him heightened even more, and my eyes narrowed.

"Did that have anything to do with my brother? Those _'factors'_ that you mentioned?"

There was a beat of silence that stretched a little too long for my comfort. Then, the other male answered...but it definitely wasn't what I wanted to hear.

"Kuro-bun, do you ever smile?"

I blinked, not sure that I'd heard him correctly. "Wait...what?"

"Do you ever smile?" Fai asked, staring at me. I would have told him to stop joking, but his face looked almost...serious. It was weird to see him without his usual air of joking around; I was almost kind of creeped out by it. More important, though, was the fact that if he was being serious, this was probably something that I needed to pay attention to.

"...I guess? Doesn't everyone smile at some point?" It wasn't like me to keep track of something like that; I didn't understand why anyone else would.

"You don't know." It wasn't a question. I looked at Fai with questions in my eyes, but he shook his head. "Why don't you know, Kuro-myuu?"

"All I know is that you're messing up my name again." I frowned, determined to bring this back to where we had started. "What does that have anything to do with Kaisei or Yui?"

"More than you think." Fai smiled again...well, I wouldn't call it a smile. It was more like a wall he put up to keep me from figuring him out. "Do you ever think that maybe, the reason that you don't know why you're smiling is because you're not smiling often?"

"What kind of stupid-ass question is that?"

"When people don't smile as much, they can't remember smiling. They don't remember being happy, or the occasions that made them want to smile. They can only remember the bad things, and they have a more negative outlook on life." Blue eyes studied me curiously, the faintest hint of true emotion lingering in their depths. "I believe that you and my brother had more in common than either of you realized." Fai leaned forward, closing the distance between us. "Though, for him, it was the opposite; he smiled so much that it eventually lost any and all meaning for him."

I really didn't get what he was trying to say – it was probably some obscure, stupid metaphor that he expected me to understand seconds after his saying it or something. How could someone smile so much that they...did whatever he was alluding to? I didn't understand at all...and that was exactly what he was aiming for.

_'Smile too much...like putting up a front?'_ I wondered, realizing right then and there something that should have been obvious from the beginning. "You do that too." I said, looking at him. "I don't know if you realize it, but you're just like him in that aspect."

I'd touched a sore point; Fai wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking off at something else, that damn smile still cemented to his face. "...Perhaps...," He'd said softly, sounding like he was talking more to himself than me. "And maybe, because of that, a similar fate lies in store for me."

"Are you saying you would kill yourself?" I asked, unable to keep the anger in my voice completely hidden.

Fai looked at me in surprise, the smile fading a bit in favor of a frown. "...Why would you care if I did? It doesn't affect you either way, Kuro-myuu."

"No, but I know what it's like for the ones you leave behind, you ass." I stood, feeling anger building within me with every word I said. "_You_ should know what that's like."

I stood up quickly, fully intent on leaving. I couldn't stay in this place any longer – not with this stupid blonde, not with my memories. I hated being here, hated having these reminders and having nothing to help me find what was really important. I didn't want some pretty, flowery answer. My brother killed himself; I knew that there was no pretty truth to hide that fact. He was gone because he was a coward, because he couldn't handle the pain of living without someone. I wished that he would come back, but there was nothing that would change his death.

_'Why can't people just understand that I know what's going on?!' _I hurried to the door, finding the desire to just destroy something building quickly in me. _'I'm sick and fucking tired of everyone trying to tell me that it's okay, or using some abstract shit that they _know _I won't understand to try to explain it to me! Why the hell is everyone like that?!' _

I had expected the one person who was in the same situation to understand that, but apparently it was impossible. I had been stupid to hope for it, and now my hopes were rightfully being dashed against reality.

"Kuro-pyon...," I heard footsteps sounding behind me, and then a slightly cool, delicate hand on my shoulder. I shouldered it off, wanting nothing to do with him.

"Just leave me alone. If you're going to kill yourself, then just do it. Don't sit around talking about it just to get a rise out of someone."

I purposely didn't look behind me; I knew that the look of hurt on his face would have been enough to make me apologize, or turn around and try to make him feel better. To be honest, I just wasn't in the mood for this shit again. I showed myself out, slamming the door behind me as I went.

**xxxxxx**

The next days were somehow...emptier than before. My father never caught me coming back from my little excursion with that blonde asshat, but I almost wished that he would have. In fact, it was as though he was too busy to even think about me. At first, baffled about what was going on with him, I was unable to understand why that was. However, soon enough I got my answer.

It happened when I was walking outside of his office about a week later. I had been on my way to see Rikuou again for another impromptu training session when I heard someone loudly curse from behind that heavy oak door that had hidden him from me for most of my life.

Curious, I stopped, wondering how much I could hear if I just stood in the hallway, pretending to pass by.

"What do you mean, the situation in Celes is getting worse?" My father thundered, causing my eyes to widen. "You said that it was getting better only yesterday!"

"My king," An unfamiliar voice stammered, sounding very much like he was about to lose his job, "The situation there has always been tense. We've never been able to set up a time of peace since Koga-sama was on his throne! We believed that Ashura-sama was going to change things for the better, but...," The last part was lost to me as this mystery man moved away from the door. It wasn't like I was listening anymore anyway; my mind was turning over the piece of information I had just received, slowly realizing what this meant to me.

Yui had been the Celestian prince. Now that he was gone, it was Fai. Fai, the person who was hiding out in the darker alleys of Nihon, of my country. Why the hell was he not where he was needed? Why wasn't he doing his job?

I sucked in an angry breath, trying not to alert them to my presence as I quietly stepped away. I knew that I was going to see that moron again and demand to know what the hell was going on. He wasn't doing his job...the only thing that his brother had left to him to do. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't, since I was doing everything in my power to make sure that what Kaisei had left was taken care of.

Yui hadn't been selfish like this...and they were twins! How could two people who, assumed to be closer than any others, so different?

As I was making my way back to my room, I saw a servant come running down the hall to me. "Your highness! Your highness, I come with a message for you!" He cried, eyes lighting up as he finally found me.

"Don't delay – what is it?" I asked, frowning slightly. What in the world could he have to say?

The servant held out a note, slightly dampened from sweat. I took the tiny square of paper, eyes widening as I opened it to see a set of awfully familiar handwriting.

_'My dearest friend, _

_ I am coming for a visit shortly. My carriage will be at your palace tomorrow. I hope that I didn't give you too much of a shock! _

_ Seeing you will be a great joy to me, so please do take care to actually show up this time, Kurogane. I didn't enjoy sitting around the palace alone last time I came to see you. _

_ -Tomoyo_


End file.
